


You Say Tomato, I Say Amato

by honorarystar



Category: Left 4 Dead 2
Genre: Bilingual Character(s), Fluff, Humor, I Don't Think This Counts As Angst, M/M, Minor Violence, Nick Speaks Italian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-09
Updated: 2014-08-09
Packaged: 2018-02-12 09:40:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2104914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honorarystar/pseuds/honorarystar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick speaks Italian to everyone's surprise and Ellis doesn't like being told what to do.</p><p>But he does like Nick so it's a problem.</p><p>Set in Hard Rain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Say Tomato, I Say Amato

Nick spoke Italian. The others found out when he kept saying stuff like, “merda,” and, “cazzo,” whenever he stepped in something or basically every time anything slightly not okay happened to him.

Eventually Ellis couldn’t stop himself from voicing his curiosities.

“What the hell are you even sayin’ man?” Ellis asked when they had finally gotten in a safe room.

Nick glared at him and said, “What?”

“Ya know, all that weird shit you say when you’re angry. Or at least when you’re more angry than normal.”

If it were possible Ellis swore Nick frowned even more.

“It’s not shit, Ellis, I do speak Italian you know,” Nick rolled his eyes and slumped down on one of the stairs, shrugging out of his jacket.

He was sitting at the top of the small staircase and Ellis had claimed a place at the bottom.

Rochelle and Coach were sitting against the wall next to the door they had entered by, having collapsed there almost immediately after the door had been locked. Rochelle leaned into Coach’s side.

“I didn’t know that, Nick,” Rochelle said it tiredly, which wasn’t surprising, they were probably all ready to collapse and sleep for a few days, “Who taught you?”

“I was raised by a very traditional old man,” Nick said with a smirk and leaned his head back on the wall and closed his eyes. “He insisted.”

“Did you have a big family?” Rochelle raised her head to look at the man in front of her.

“Not exactly,” Nick answered sardonically.

Rochelle frowned. There was definitely something more to that story, but she was too tired to question the con man tonight.

“Can you say anything?” Ellis narrowed his eyes. He was intrigued, the only language he heard anyone speak back home was French. Italian seemed really sophisticated for some reason.

“Più o meno, cicci,” The con man sighed.

Ellis wanted to ask a lot more questions, especially about what exactly Nick just said, but when he looked around him it looked like his companions were nodding off. He kept silent and laid down on the ground to catch a few hours of sleep.

* * *

 

By the time the group had woken up the sun was rising. It felt like it had only been a few hours and, as usual, Ellis was the last one to wake up. They all took turns trying to wake him up. Nick would usually nudge him with a foot or occasionally take Ellis’ hat and hit the mechanic in the face with it. Ellis liked it better when Rochelle or Coach woke him. Coach would usually shake him by the shoulder until Ellis’ eyes opened and Rochelle woke him up by saying his name a few times and squeezing his arm. The first few mornings when Rochelle took it upon herself to wake up the youngest man he had mumbled something about his mom and asking for a few more minutes. Neither of them mentioned it after that.

Now they were all awake (although Ellis was still drowsy) and making their way out of the safe room. Coach shut the door behind them to make sure it would be safe for when they returned. They had left some supplies for when they would make the trip back after they retrieved the gas for Virgil. The way the sky was looking made Ellis think it was going to be a rough journey.

It was fairly quiet, not too many zombies in the sugar mill, but Ellis swore he heard a witch and shut his light off, whispering for the others to do the same.

The group trod as quietly as they could down the rubble filled alley leading to the sugar mill. Coach thrust his arm out, blocking Nick. The gambler glared at the older man, but Coach nodded his head towards the clearing in front of them and Nick stared in a moment of surprise.

“Merda,” He said under his breath.

Rochelle tried to stand up on her tip toes to see over Nick’s shoulder and made a sound like she really didn’t want to be here right now when she saw what was waiting for them.

Ellis stepped around her to look over Nick’s other shoulder and he knew that his mouth had dropped open.

There were two witches wandering aimlessly through the clearing and another one sitting on the ramp leading inside the sugar mill which Ellis assumed was the route that they needed to go.

“We gotta at least get the one on the ramp or we’re stuck,” Ellis mumbled, already looking through the scope on his hunting rifle to get a better look at the third witch.

Nick shoved the nose of the rifle down towards the ground and glared at Ellis.

“And what makes you think that you should do it?” Nick was hissing in order to keep quiet and unnoticed by the crying witches. “There is no way to get that one and have her chase you while we’re all shooting and not startle the other two.”

“Well I could get a good shot in from here,” Ellis was looking through his scope again and Nick looked like he wanted the gun away from him all together, “And then I could run back that way and—”

“Ellis, you are one of the clumsiest people I know—”

“That ain’t—”

“There is no way you would be able to run backwards through piles of brick and debris from a witch and be able to shoot and stay standing at the same time,” Nick was making a bunch of hand gestures and slapping the back one hand into the palm of the other like this was going to help convince Ellis that he was right or something.

“I got more faith in y’all’s shootin’ skills than that,” Ellis said, more determined now than he was before because of Nick being a jerk.

Nick looked at Coach and Rochelle and back at Ellis, his eyes wide in disbelief. Rochelle shrugged at all of them and looked at Ellis.

“Honey, I’ve seen you do some pretty brave stuff,” Ellis beamed at that, “But this might be something too dangerous. You’ve never had to something like this and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Ro, I’ll be fine, really,” The hick looked around at his team with complete confidence, “This is just like the time Keith wanted me to help him catch some raccoons—”

“Not the time Ellis,” Nick was pinching the bridge of his nose.

Ellis frowned at him. Nick was the one being stupid. Ellis could do it. All he had to do was get a really good shot in, right in the head, and run. As long as he was careful and Ro and Coach and Nick were helping him it would be fine and they can sneak past the other two witches and they could go on their merry way.

“What do you think, Coach?” Rochelle asked the oldest member of their team, the make-shift leader.

Coach scratched his jaw and thought for a minute.

“If y’all think this is the only way, then we got yo’ back, son.”

Nick looked around him and, if Ellis was being completely honest, he looked like he feared for the sanity of the others.

“He will get mauled,” Nick said in an exasperated tone.

Ellis ignored him and took aim once again.

“Y’all get ready now,” Ellis told his team. They took position and tensed up, ready.

Ellis tried to line up his shot right in her temple, but the witch would not stop moving her god damn head. Ellis decided on a new strategy and waited for her to raise her head into his shot. When she did he didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger.

There was blood curdling scream and she was off running like she was on fire. Ellis started running back the way they had come. He felt adrenaline pump through his system as he ran as fast as he could, gun shots and more screaming from the witch going off behind him.

That’s when Ellis made the stupid decision to glance behind him.

He lost his footing in the debris in that second and went crashing to the ground.

He heard at least two different voices yell his name before he felt claws ripping through the back of his shirt. He screamed as loud as he has in a while and arched his back, trying to bend anyway he could to get away from the witch.

There was more screaming (Ellis couldn’t tell if it was human or witch but he assumed it was both) as he kept thrashing around on his stomach, trying to pull his way out from under the attack.

Then the high pitched screeching stopped, as did the gunfire, and Ellis saw a gray body falling to the ground beside him.

He heard what was going on above him more than he saw anything.

Nick reached him before the others and threw himself to the ground and tried to assess the damage done to the kid.

“Merda, merda, merda cazzo,” Ellis heard him saying a bunch of gibberish under his breath and then Rochelle was kneeling beside him too, Coach standing above them catching his breath.

Ellis’ thoughts finally started catching up with what was happening. He heard himself, whimpering and breathing like he couldn’t keep the air in his lungs. Every breath was short and loud, like a combination of a gasp and a hiccup. His entire back felt like it was on fire and had been doused in acid. He could feel every brush of fabric from the tatters of his shirt light up his nerves in the most excruciating way.

“Fottuta idiota,” Nick was grumbling and hissing as he got out his med kit and Rochelle tried to pull Ellis’ shirt away from the wounds, “Detto così.”

They all winced when Ellis let out a low whine when bloody cloth was peeled away from his torn flesh.

Coach looked around nervously, keeping an eye out for anything coming their way.

Once the shirt was pulled away Nick started cleaning out the wounds with peroxide. Ellis was clenching his fists so hard the knuckles were white and he squeezed his eyes shut and was grinding his teeth through the pain.

Nick was trying to go as quickly as he could, he could see the pain etched into Ellis’ features.

“Mi dispiace,” Nick whispered, trying to finish the cleaning as quickly as possible, “Mi prenderò cura di te, mio amato.”

There was a pause in Nick’s movements until Ellis felt his hands return, now taping bandages over the wounds as best as he could.

“El, you’re gonna have to sit up so I can wrap the bandages all the way around you,” Nick said like a question, as if Ellis really had a choice, it’s not like he can lay on the ground forever.

Ellis nodded and peeked through his closed eyes, hoping he wouldn’t have to ask for help, this was embarrassing enough.

Luckily he didn’t have to, Nick reached under Ellis’ arms and maneuvered him so he was sitting up on the heels of his feet. He swayed forward for a second before Rochelle caught him and leaned his head on her shoulder.

He sat there and winced occasionally, hiding his face, as Nick wrapped layers of bandages around his abdomen. He finished by wrapping one last piece diagonally across Ellis’ chest and over his shoulder, taping it on his back and finally declaring Ellis to be okay. At least okay enough for the moment.

Ellis leaned back from Rochelle and looked down at the tattered remains of his shirt.

“Oh shit, no, my favorite shirt.”

Rochelle looked at him with an apologetic smile and said, “I think we might have to get a new one Ellis, this one isn’t going to stay on for much longer.”

She pulled it off of Ellis’ arms which was the only thing keeping it on in the first place.

Ellis looked up when something was shoved in his face. Nick was holding out his suit jacket.

“You can’t go the rest of the way shirtless, fireball,” Nick rolled his eyes, “Just put it on.”

Ellis took it and shrugged it on carefully. He was grateful that it was too big on him, so the dense fabric wouldn’t be touching his back every time he moved.

They started walking back towards the ramp, ready to sneak past any other witch, when Ellis screwed his face up in confusion.

“Nick, did you call me a to-mah-toe back there?”

“Sta 'zitto, Ellis,” Nick said with an air of finality.

* * *

 

The rest of the trip went about as well as you would expect. People falling down, witches around every fucking corner, and then it started raining. And not like a light sprinkling, but like an absolute shit storm.

After they had the gas they hauled ass from safe house to safe house, getting drenched the whole way. They weren’t willing to stop in the safe house that had flooded so they only rested enough to get supplies and give Ellis more medication. Everyone had been hovering over him all damn day. Nick would barely let him shoot his own gun and every time he wandered off more than, say, 20 feet away from the group Rochelle or Coach would yell at him like he was some errant child that needed a leash.

Ellis appreciated the help since he couldn’t move very quickly and he was unable to rotate his torso more than a couple of inches in either direction. And Nick’s jacket got heavier as it rained and was really weighing him down. It felt like it was plastered to his back, but they were forcing him to keep it on to protect him from the weather or something.

Nick had rolled the sleeves of his dress shirt up to his elbows which Ellis was only slightly jealous of because he could barely hold his gun without the sleeves of Nick’s jacket falling over his hands.

Ellis was more than ready to get out of the rain and basically anywhere else.

Which was why he nearly shouted in glee when they saw the next safe house and it was an actual house. When they got inside and out of the rain, Ellis basked in the dryness of the house and he, very gingerly, shrugged out of the soaking jacket and laid it on the kitchen counter.

“We are all dripping water everywhere,” Ellis heard Rochelle say behind him, “We need to dry off or someone might get sick. And Ellis needs his bandages changed.”

Ellis made a face, knowing she couldn’t see him. He was not looking forward to that.

Rochelle made everyone lay the gas containers by the back door, Coach had been carrying two so Ellis didn’t have to. The man dropped on the couch and groaned.

“Alright everyone’s gonna have to lay their clothes out to dry tonight,” Rochelle said pointedly looking at the others sternly.

“Yes ma’am,” Coach said it with his eyes closed, “I’ll sleep out here on this sofa and keep watch first.”

“And with the image of Coach sleeping naked out here I’ll be going now,” Nick turned around and made his way to the bedroom on the far side of the house, where they had first entered.

“Wait, Nick,” Rochelle said as she ducked in the bathroom and came out with a couple of bleach stained towels, “Take these and the bandages for Ellis.”

“Wait, what, why can’t he share your room?”

Ellis blushed and looked at the ground. He did not want to share a bed with her if they were both expected to be…slightly…not dressed.

“Right, yeah, fine, come on, Ace,” Nick took the armful from Rochelle along with his jacket off the kitchen counter and gestured for Ellis to follow him.

Nick shut the door behind them and dumped the towels and health kit on the bed. He draped his jacket on the chair in the corner and started to undress.

Ellis looked away in embarrassment and he swore he saw Nick grin out of the corner of his eye.

Ellis sat down on one side of the bed and heard Nick unbuckling his belt. The younger man took one of the towels and wiped his face and hair with it, dropping his hat onto the ground.

There was a dip in the mattress when Nick sat down behind the mechanic.

“You should probably take those stupid overalls off,” Nick said it quietly, making the hair on the back of Ellis’ neck stand up, “I think you’re making a wet spot on the blanket.”

Ellis stood up quickly, glad that it was dark in here so Nick wouldn’t see the blush across his nose.

He took off his coveralls and walked to the other side of the room to lay them on the chair with Nick’s clothes. He could practically feel Nick staring at him, and he was relieved to see that the older man had left his boxers on like Ellis had.

Ellis went back to sit on the bed and Nick had been right, there was now a wet spot on the quilt.

He jumped a little when he felt Nick’s fingers on his skin.

“Easy, sport,” Ellis could he hear the smirk in his voice.

They sat in silence as Nick peeled off the wet bandages and threw them aside.

As he started applying new ones he said, “If you learned anything from this experience I hope it was to always listen to Nick.”

Ellis laughed. “Yeah, I wouldn’t count on that.”

Nick huffed a little out of his nose.

“So what did you call me?” Ellis asked over his shoulder.

“When?”

“When I thought you said something about a tomato. What did you actually say?”

Nick had finished the wrapping and applied one last piece of tape and sighed.

“Nothing, kid.”

Ellis turned around and saw Nick shifting to get under the blankets.

“I know you said something. Why can’t you say it?” Ellis frowned, but he followed Nick’s lead and crawled into bed. He laid on his side, facing Nick, so he wouldn’t hurt his back.

“Just forget it, Ellis, go to sleep.” Nick was laying on his side, facing away from Ellis.

“Come on man, teach me some fancy Italian words. Oh man can you teach me how to say ‘shit’? Is that what you always say? Is that what you were saying when he were healing me? Were you calling me stupid or something?”

“Jesus, Ellis,” Nick sat up in the bed and looked down at the younger man, “I wasn’t cussing you out. I was saying I was sorry for hurting you while I was cleaning the cuts. Which wouldn’t have happened in the first place if you had listened to me, might I add.”

Ellis frowned for a second. “Then what did the tomato word mean?”

Nick closed his eyes, “It’s not a tomato word, Jesus Christ, Ellis.”

“Then what is it?”

Nick was refusing to look Ellis in the eye.

“I won’t shut up until you tell me,” Ellis said with determination.

Nick only pursed his lips.

“This one time me and Kei—”

“Alright don’t start!” Nick put a hand over Ellis’ mouth, but he took it off when he was sure that Ellis was going to be quiet, “It’s basically a term of endearment. It means love or…beloved.”

Ellis looked at the older man in astonishment. Nick still wasn’t looking at him though and Ellis didn’t know how to react.

“You, you called me…you called me—what?” Ellis stuttered.

Nick rolled his eyes. “Yes, Ellis, I called you that.”

“Why?” Ellis’ mind was still processing.

“Why do you think, idiot?” Nick glared at him.

Ellis had looked away from Nick’s face and he didn’t know who in this room was the most embarrassed. But Ellis was also…happy? Nick called nice names when he thought no one knew? Yeah, that was definitely alright with Ellis.

“W-well, what else can you say?” Ellis looked up sheepishly, hoping Nick would take the hint.

Nick did. He raised his eyebrows and grinned a little. He leaned back down so he and Ellis were nose to nose.

Nick grinned when he looked at Ellis (it looked a little mocking) and whispered, “Mi piacerebbe scoparti nel materasso.”

Ellis felt himself blush some more, his face and ears hot, and he didn’t even know why. Nick chuckled a little at Ellis’ response which only made Ellis more embarrassed. Whatever Nick was saying, Ellis’ stupid brain seemed to be confused (read: excited) by it. Or maybe it was the way Nick said it. He was staring at Ellis in this bed, with his stupid fucking smirk lighting up his eyes and whispering foreign words in the dark, all while there was a literal and metaphoric shit storm going on outside.

Nick’s face softened after a moment and he smiled a real smile, not a smirk, and raised one hand to cup Ellis’ cheek and murmured so softly Ellis could barely hear anything other than mumbling, “Prima di incontrare te, non pensavo che avrei potuto provare un sentimento così profondo.”

“What does that mean?” Ellis whispered, he felt that any noise would be too loud.

Nick pressed forward and kissed Ellis on the mouth. It was a soft, warm pressure that left Ellis feeling tingly and he wanted more when Nick pulled away.

Nick laid on his back and tugged Ellis by an arm so he would be on his stomach on top of him. Ellis used Nick’s chest as a pillow and the older man wrapped one arm around Ellis’ waist and used the other to comb his fingers through the hick’s hair.

Ellis eventually drifted off to sleep with Nick pressing his lips to the top of Ellis’ head and the feeling of his breath as he continued to whisper a bunch of words Ellis couldn’t understand.

**Author's Note:**

> Translations:
> 
> Merda- shit  
> Cazzo- fuck  
> Più o meno, cicci- More or less, sweetheart  
> Fottuta idiota- Fucking idiot  
> Detto così- I told you  
> Mi dispiace- I’m sorry  
> Mi prenderò cura di te, mio amato- I’ll take care of you, my beloved  
> Sta 'zitto- Shut up  
> Mi piacerebbe scoparti nel materasso- I’d like to fuck you into the mattress  
> Prima di incontrare te, non pensavo che avrei potuto provare un sentimento così profondo- Before I met you, I did not think I could have a feeling so deep
> 
> I feel like i killed off a character by making Ellis lose his shirt
> 
> Follow me on [tumblr](http://honorarystar.tumblr.com/)


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